Flexible dustpan



J 19, 1954 R. L. ANDERSON ET AL 2,666,309

FLEXIBLE DUSTPAN 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 4, 1950 a u M I r1 L Q 1 1 I- W M INVENTORS. POAF A. 41/045250 fro f1" 5L0; ifl6@ ATTORNEY Jan. 19, 1954 R. ANDERSON ET AL 2,666,309

FLEXIBLE DUSTPAN 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed ril 4, 1950 l .27 f2? 28 v v v v \1 4- INVENTORS,

OLF L. AA/bEgg-qy rro F. 54041 ATTORNEY 1954 R. L. ANDERSON ET AL 2,666,

FLEXIBLE DUSTPAN Filed April 4, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR5.

7'70 54044 BY 1 Q 1 ATIOR LY 201. F A. A/VDEESO'A/ Patented Jan. 19, 1954 2 5"... FLEXIB E DUSTPAN itol f i; B1

Amfitmfttie 21950, Serial No. 153,886"

ihventionr'eiaites. tofsixi'fede czieeniii. .d i.

vices' arid nidrenpafticularly to. dust pans usedin cooperation with a bfoom 01 13h:11*1 for, remov ing;,.sweep"ings from floerslof other suffaces;.-..

The conventional; dust pan is providedtwith 8;.

contact or leading edge of substantially .itigizii construction which isp'l a'ced incontzieit with: the floor and sweepinsathereupofil swept iovieit. this edge onto the perf'bottorm Duei tof'its rigidity, the leading" edge of theueonventioni pan deesnot conform to; the-irregularities? or. undulations often present in floors. of the .nainij tomfi eontact neihe floor u iformly hrqiiehout the len th .ofthe-hed e the .derimstead; o into.

b i that .dust-,.is1.swent=i thepan; leavingdust on thefloor' when the pan isrgjs ed.

instant invention} These prevent theedge.

olaiin (01. tit-"50") fs pective View of 'di i iortii 55v i is: end vi w q inenosfiMn show n the. lead g edge eonforn'iing to an-undulating surfaee'; I

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the dust pan flexed intoscoopshapei fleggibie insert, and the body of one form of the invention;; p Ei 6 51 qqt en ta e etfi fiiin Fi :1

lie-H is asetion taken at ie-.6 n B -abuts hoyving a modified construction in this area; for a EQ QfO- mQfth inv li i i. c p s e.pl i ,vi wlsho ine a the: left the blank, andet the right the completed ew -re 0i a; hi d orm of: he.i-nve 1 .iQ

.ij'ig 9 is end View of the completed pan o-wh nl iig M El e. lq isan end view of afourth form of the instant invention; gig. L1 is a section taken at H-I'lin Fig. 9; M F 2 f fi pntake a 27 2.1 1. P e 0,

F011;: for msl or species of; the instant invention; weet. draw n s;- h fi s thrb'l'igh 6; e... ee s n R -.7 as m di y n the i-- he thirdly-. jlfi s iehaml' 1: 11 an th foiiit'h' in Figs. 10 and 12-, as modifying the third foi; H 1 LL: I; 1 ifirstlf rxn,..s.no.vm. n Fi .thrQu -n.-e- 4 1 "b d k ftqjwhch' a yo ype: fi e- .12 .iwive ally se re t q fiiOHI aI blame l3 (Fig. 5) and an insert plank-I4 (Fig.4).

.s' e rid v ma i l o t ee @e;we ws le m b j i .dbtt f line 1. T l iibe y w i .9. ined .bs?.-

of the. diist pen. in}

at substantially right angles to a base strip 32 as indicated in Fig. 6, and a similar angular bend is made in the blank 13 along the line 2|.

The insert I4 is assembled with the blank [3 by placing the base strip 32 on the pan bottom with the bend line 31 substantially coinciding with the bend line 2|; then folding the body members 23, 24 inwardly along a line 33 and thence downwardly toward the strip 32. Thus assembled, the body notches 26 and insert notches 29 are staggered so that no open spaces remain in the assembled rear wall 22 which thus acts as a solid wall to prevent sweepings from falling out at the rear of the pan, while also permitting the wall to flex with the bottom wall l8 due to the above described notched structure of the rear section of the blank and the insert.

To unite the side walls Hi to the rear wall 22, end flaps 35 on the side walls are folded inwardly along the lines 31 and secured within the folds of the thumbs 24. Thus, the insert I4 is confined between the bent portions of the fingers and thumbs 23, 24, and the side walls iii of the pan body.

The handle i2 is preferably made from wire having resilient and springlike qualities. The wire is bent at a central portion into a substantially U-shaped grip portion 4|. At the extremities of the U-shaped formation the wire is bent outwardly in substantially'equal and diverging lengths 42. At the ends of these lengths, the wire is bent angularly to form substantially parallel arms 43, and upturned stops 44 are formed at the free ends of these arms. 7

Connection between each side wall and the handle i2 is effected by curling tabs '5! of the side walls over the arms 43 of the handle to form two elongated pivotal connections between body and handle.

The flexible bottom of the pan with its thin and flexible leading edge l9, preferably slightly bowed downwardly as shown in Fig. 1, may be placed in contact with a floor or other surface having undulations such as shown at 56 in Fig. 2, and in position to receive sweepings.

Due to its flexibility, the leading edge 59, under slight downward pressure, conforms to the undu-.

lations, and the edge remains in close contact with the floor during application of this pressure so that the sweepings may be transferred from the floor to the pan, leaving substantially no dust line on the surface when the pan is raised.

The flexible structure imparted to the back or rear wall of the pan by the notched structure, comprising the fingers and thumbs 23, 24, 21 and 28 of the body and insert, permit the back to be bowed downwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, and the bottom 18 to be bowed into scoop formation by inwardly directed hand pressure on opposite sides of the U-shaped portion M of the handle I2. This scoop formation of the pan body permits the operator to pour or discharge the contents of the pan into a bag or other receptacle without spilling the contents of the pan, the scoop directing the contents through a relatively small opening in the bag or receptacle.

The second form of the invention is a modification, shown in Fig. 7, of the first form shown in Figs. 1 through 6. In this second form, an insert comparable in function to insert M in the above described first form'of the invention, is secured along its base strip 62 to the bottom wall [8 of the pan by one or more rivets 63 or other suitable means. The fingers 64 and'thumbs of the insert 6| are longer than the fingers 66 4 and thumbs of the body, and the upper margin 61 of each of the insert fingers and thumbs is bent rearwardly and downwardly over the body fingers and thumbs. In this structure, the notches in the body and insert portions of the rear wall members are staggered as in the first described form. This second form thus functions in the same manner as the first; a principal distinction lying in the manner of retaining the insert in its assembled position.

The third form of the invention (Figs. 8, 9 and 11) is similar to the first and second forms described above excepting in the structure of the flexible rear wall. In this third form, the rear section of the blank, shown in the left half of Fig. 8, merges with the bottom wall l8 along an arcuate line H, extending from one side wall It to the other, and is divided into a series of central members or fingers l2 and end members or thumbs I3 by notches or slits 14 which extend from the periphery of the blank inwardly to the arcuate line H. These members, I2, 13 when bent upwardly along the line H, overlap each other, as shown at 76 (Fig. 9). Tabs 11, formed at the outer margin of each of the members l2,

T3 are bent downwardly over the overlapped portions '16. Thus the several members l2, 13, form a flexible rear wall, each member being movable together with the bottom wall I8 and laterally relative to the next member, as in the first and second forms described above, when the bottom is flexed.

The fourth form of the invention (Figs. 8, l0 and 12) is similar to the above described third form but with the addition of a wire insert 8! (Figs. 10 and 12) which may be provided to reinforce and maintain alignment of the several members l2, 13, of the rear wall as they are flexed. The wire is shorter than the minimum length of the top of the rear wall and is assembled with these upstanding members by curling the tabs 11 over it as shown in Fig. 12.

To maintain the wire centrally disposed in the curled tabs at the top of the wall, a short loop 82 may be formed in the wire, and the loop locked in a notch 83 formed in a central member 12 (Fig. 10).

In each of the four forms of the invention described herein, the resilient handle 12 and its arms 43, pivotally connected to the side walls l6 of the pan body, normally hold the side walls apart under yielding pressure, keep the articulate rear wall preferably in slightly curved form, and retain the flexible bottom of the pan slightly bowed as shown in Fig. 1.

When the handle is held in the usual manner and squeezed slightly by the hand holding the pan, the opposite side arms 43 move the side walls inwardly, thereby increasing the bow in the flexible bottom and articulate rear walls to the desired degree of scoop formation for use in collecting sweepings or disposing of the collected sweepings.

Furthermore, in each of the forms the several members of the rear wall are moved laterally, or oscillated slightly, relative to each other so that the wall may follow the curvature or bow of the bottom wall as when the pan is transformed into the scoop shown in Fig. 3.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that other variations in form and structure of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the forms hereinabove disclosed being merely preferred embodiments thereof.

We claim:

1. In a dust pan or similar article, a bottom wall of flexible material having a thin contact or leading edge and bounded on each of two opposite sides contiguous to said leading edge by upstanding side walls, and by an articulate rear wall comprising a series of upstanding members disposed between said side walls, each of the two opposite end members in said series being united at its base with said bottom wall and at its side with an adjacent end of a said side wall, the remainder of said upstanding members each being united at its base with said bottom wall only and freely movable laterally relative to its next adjacent member when said bottom wall is flexed into a scoop formation between said side walls by application of pressure directed inwardly against said side walls.

2. A dust pan of the character set forth in claim 1 in which the side walls are united to a spring handle having a pair of arms extending outwardly from said handle, each of said side walls being pivotally connected to one of said arms, said spring handle normally acting through said pivotal connections to urge said side walls outwardly under the yielding pressure exerted by the normal expansion tendency of the handle to maintain said bottom wall normally in a, slightly bowed form. I

3. A dust pan of the character set forth in claim 1 in which the upper end of each upstanding member is formed with a tab which is bent downwardly over a portion of its next adj acent upstanding member to guide each said member in its movements.

4. A dust pan of the character set forth in claim 3 in which the tabs are curled downwardly and a wire extends longitudinally through the curled tabs to maintain alignment of the upstandingmembers and to reinforce the rear wall.

5. A dust pan of the character set forth in claim 4 in which a centrally disposed curled tab is formed with a notch therein, and a short loop formed in the wire extends through said notch to lock the wire in centrally disposed relation in the series of curled tabs.

6. A dust pan of the character set forth in claim 1 in which the articulate rear wall comprises two series of upstanding members, the members of one of said series being united to said bottom wall and retaining the other series in staggered relation and in sliding engagement with said first mentioned series of upstanding members.

7. A dust pan of the character set forth in claim 6 in which one of the series of upstanding members is united with the bottom wall and the other series of upstanding members is united with a base strip, said base strip being secured to said bottom wall. ROLF L. ANDERSON OTTO F. BLOM.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 234,644 Alexander Nov. 23, 1880 256,150 Mattoon Apr. 11, 1882 996,341 Hutchison June 27, 1911 1,011,613 Grasselly Dec. 12, 1911 1,106,282 Coats Aug. 4, 1914 1,155,178 Watkins Sept. 28, 1915 1,270,340 Spaulding June 25, 1918 2,265,551 Steccone Dec. 9, 1941 2,331,971 Gramp Oct. 19, 1943 2,475,619 Johnson July 12, 1949 2,583,154 Pape Jan. 22, 1952 

